A month later... and Im still alive!!!

WOW.... a month has flown by and it feels like nothing.
Over the past week and a half I have been settling into a normal routine of class, social, working out, and eating.  I have definitely gotten use to using the tube to go to the gym and class.
Nothing too interesting has happened in the past 10 days, but I will fill you in on some fun school assignments.
For Fashion PR I have a rough photo shoot due.... now I'm not sure why she has us doing this, but you can't argue with a women who ran Burberry PR.  We have to take photographs that showcase a piece of jewelry (ill put one of our rough photos on the bottom).
For Intro to British Art my teacher assigned me a critique on the painting Whistlejacket by George Stubbs.  The painting is just of a horse: no background, no people; so, 500 words seemed a bit steep, but I did it!! Me and the horse are best friends now.  See, the British love their horses, especially when they win lost of dosh (thats money in British), so naturally Whistlejacket (a champion horse) got painted in life size.  (Mom, I'll take you to the National Gallery to see the painting.  It's kinda cool)

The one exciting event that did happen: I WENT TO DUBLIN!!!
Now let me preface this with the fact that I was sick all weekend and wasn't truly able to enjoy all that Dublin has to offer, but I got a good chunk of it.
During my time in Dublin I went to the Guinness factory, which was awesome.  We saw the history of the company and got to get certified in Guinness beer pouring.  I also enjoyed a large pint of their drink (not bad I must say).  Fun fact: Guinness signed a 2000 year lease for 40 pounds a year..... now thats what I call a bargain!
We also ate at the local pubs....mmmm delicious! And got to go on a tour of the Castle.  We also saw the oldest pub in Dublin, Trinity College, and crazy locals.
Now here are the key things I learned from the locals in Dublin.

1. G-d invented beer so the Irish wouldn't take over the world.
2. They love rugby
3. Their cold remedy: hot Irish Whiskey: Hot Water, Whiskey, Lemon, Clove.  For those who do not remember my Bat Mitzvah, this is almost the exact same thing Rabbi Ishay gave me when I was sick.  Let me tell you, THIS STUFF IS GREAT.  Promise, it works
4. Their hangover solution: dont go to bed.... instead go to a pub order a fry (i think its super greasy bread thats fried) and then chug down 3 pints and go to bed around 2.  Wake up around 1 in the afternoon and you will be good as new.  Now I haven't yet tested this, but locals swear upon it.
5. The Irish are fans of sing-a-longs while intoxicate at a pub.  This is by far the funniest thing to hear and see.  Everyone in the pub joins in and sings at the top of their lungs.  It's great fun!

Well that's all for now!  I gotta go rest up because tonight is my 21st birthday!! Don't worry, I am celebrating at The Sports Cafe, which is a very American bar here, so people will appreciate this big bday!

Meggo

Weeks 2 and 3

Sorry this update took so long, but I am truly adapting to the city to the point that I, the chronic early timed Megan, am beginning to run late (this blog post clearly is not an exception).  Since I last update y'all a LOT has happened.  Let's start with the boring stuff: classes.
My Arcadia classes started on the 9th of January.  I am currently taking Sex, Gender, and the City in Literature.  The class is just as interesting as it sounds and explores the issues of public housing, which in London was supposed to be created as a Utopia  (most was built in the 1970s) and gender relations in British literature.  My teacher is a odd ball and the discussions are never boring, which is good because classes here run for about three hours (they meet once a week).
The other Arcadia class I am taking is introduction to British Art, which every other week is held at a Museum around London.  On the first week we ventured to the TATE to see the John Martin special exhibit.  Then, the following week we had a discussion about how to examine art and discussed the exhibit.  If you are not familiar with Martin, you should google him.  His art is historically and biblically based, but he is obsessed with being accurate in his portrayal; to the point that in a lot of his painting famous figures can be identified.  My teacher is a little, slightly older British woman.  I can't tell if she likes me or not, but I ask a lot of questions and sometimes she gives that "you again" look.  We will just have to wait a bit more to see if she does.
On the 3rd week of my program, 17th of January, my London College of Fashion courses began.  This school works differently from all of the other courses I have taken because there are no exams and our grades are wrapped up in one to two projects... YIKES!
I am taking Fashion Marketing in the UK, which meets on Wednesdays, and is taught by an amazing professor who talks at a mile per minute, but, oh man, does she know her stuff.  So far we have only grazed the surface, but so you get a feel at how fast paced the classes at LCF (fashion college) are I will inform you that I took over 6 pages of notes in two and a half hours.  She also introduced our assignment, which involves doing a marketing analysis on a retailer here in london.  It looks hard but I am excited!
On Thursdays I am enrolled in Fashion Public Relations and Visual Merchandising.  Fashion PR is going to be hard.  My professor is fabulous, has worked as the head of Burberry PR and teaches so fast your head spins and your jaw drops.  Naturally, I LOVE IT!  The first day she gave an intro into how fashion PR differs from every other field... to sum it up it's cut throat.... I nearly peed my pants during this.  Then at the end of class we had to get up and give a quick speech on why she should hire us.  I went for the short, no notes, maintain eye contact approach.  She told me I was good at working with no notes and standing still, but nerves show through my shoulders being up to my ears.  All I could think about was my mom saying, "Megan, shoulders down", so I started to chuckle.  Everyone did something wrongs, mostly people just couldn't stand still.   My assignment for my PR class is a full PR campaign for a fashion designer releasing a new shoe line.  This includes coming up with catchy name for the line and the concept, so if you have an ideas post them! Thanks :)
My late night fashion course, Visual Merchandising, is the first course in my college career that I have ever taken just because I want to #BOOM.  The teacher is young, fun, but super creative and knows her stuff.  The class explores the psychology behind a store design and creative side of it too.  I am excited to see where this class goes.
Now to the fun stuff: travel and explorations.
I haven't done much more sight seeing because of school and general putting my life together stuff.  I have gone to Hyde Park, which is gorgeous.  We saw the Peter Pan statue and fed the swans.  Also, I ventured to Portobello Market!  This market is an antique and food market, and is filled with some true gems. I went with my friend, Carly, at around 9am, while the stands were still setting up and we definitely got to first picks for the day!  I suggest going to Portobello at around this time and getting coffee because if you get there after 11 am it is a mad house.
A fun discovery, courtesy of the head of my LCF program: Liberty department store: the hidden jewel of London.  Liberty is a fashion students dream, containing all the top designers and rare vintage dresses.  Also, they were having an unbelievable shoe sale... almost 200 to 300 pounds off some their merchandise.  The outside of the store looks like a farm house and the inside looks like heaven.  (Mom don't worry I'll take you there)  The store is located at the Oxford Circus tube stop, but for some reason very few non-fashion people know about it!  I can't say enough about this store (even though I cannot afford it... LOVE IT)
Now on to my first overseas trip... Madrid.  Let me begin by saying I am happy I took this trip because even though I love London, I have wondered what Barcelona would have been like for me... the answer probably not awesome.  Madrid is a gorgeous city during the day, with beautiful architecture and crisp blue skies, but at night.... not so much.  Don't get me wrong the clubs are fun, but the streets are beyond dirty and filled with prostitutes... thanks mom and dad for keeping me sheltered.  Also, thanks for letting me take Spanish because almost no one in Madrid spoke English and out of the four of us who went I was the only one who was semi-fluent.
Now back to my journey.  We stayed at a hostile that was clean and centrally located in Sol, the center of the city.  The only problem was that in Madrid they don't go out to the bars until 2 to 4 am and that meant it was loud at 4am, when we got home from the club.
The first day we walked around and explored the streets and that night we met up with Jamie, one of my good friends here, friend from home who was studying in Madrid.  We went a dive bar and got cheap huge drinks, which me and my three friends shared. Then we went to Pacha, which is a well known club in Madrid, where we stayed until around 4 am.
The second day we went to the palace and their version of central park.  We were all exhausted and crabby so we didn't go out and took the day easy.
Overall I was happy with the trip because I learned that I would not have enjoyed Barcelona as much as I do London.  I was so happy to be back on Sunday I almost wanted to kiss the tarmac.

Now a quick update on how I am adjusting to London.  Let me just say, I think I am becoming a Londoner for the following reasons.

1. I navigate the tube like its my job
2. I take the tube to the gym to train
3. I have no patience for people who don't know where they are going on the Tube and decide to stand in the middle of the walk way
4. I don't say "excuse me", I say "sorry"
5. I buy my veggies at the market
6. I call my pants trousers
7. I order a pint of draft Stella, not a glass
8. I have yet to wear rainboots when it is raining
9. I order food for take away not to go
10. I know how to navigate the night busses.

So far so good... yes?

next time I promise to be more prompt on the weekly updates.... Sorry Susan for making you wait so long!

WELCOME TO LONDON!

Hello all!
Sorry it has taken me a week to get this blog, but I'll do my best to make it perfect.  I'll start this recap with the plane trip over here.
While I was at the always great Hartsfield Jackson airport, waiting during my two hour delay, I met a Jewish British couple.  So, naturally, I had to talk to them to find about where all my people would be hanging out.  Turns out they are really nice and they told me about a place called the JLE and extended an invitation for shabbat to me that I plan on going to once I get a tad more settled.
On the plane, I was seated next to another study abroad student, who is not on my program, ARCADIA, but it was nice to know someone else had to navigate the airport by themselves. Besides that the flight was uneventful.
Next was immigration, no problem here, except the immigration officer... AKA the Home Office ... explained to me how these backwards Brits write their dates: day/month/year.  (I'm just getting used to this).  From there I had to take the airport tube to a different train that goes to a HUGE station called paddington.  Once I lugged my two bags onto the paddington train, I got to sit down and relax for 15 minutes, until we arrived at the station.  
When we arrived the adventure began to find a taxi.  I wandered, more like struggled through the station, until a nice British man asked to assist me.  (Clearly I screamed lost and American) He kindly pointed out to me that the way the taxi queue was the dark black line that was on the ground about five feet from me.  Man, did I feel like that stupid tourist.  He offered to help with my bags, but I refused (dont worry Meema, I know, "Stranger Danger")
After about a 15 minute struggle, I made to the queue, where the taxi hailer asked if I was having a rough go at getting around.... UH  DUH.  He got me a cab and put my bags in for me.  My taxi driver was very social and told me which areas to avoid and informed me that London College of Fashion is a hard school. This is not comforting because I am taking 4 fashion courses there.
I got to NIDO, my student living building and signed in without trouble.  I went up to my room and met my roommate.  We had a introduction session and then got to explore the area and go out for dinner.

Tuesday we had orientation at our host school, City University.  The staff went over the ins and outs o what not to do and we had an introduction to the English grading system.
The nots:

• do NOT talk to people on the tube
• do NOT look people in the eye on the tube

Tuesday night me and a few people from my program went to a pub near us called the Big Chill and had some cider, which is DELICIOUS. We also went down towards the London Bridge area and walked around.... surprisingly i really remember the area well.  

Wednesday was more orientation and then we had the rest of the day off, so naturally I went to Harrods. I love it..... I would move into there. The clothing is amazing and the food and the shoes....

Then we went to TopShop which is by far my new favorite store (insert dad rolling his eyes).  Oh and we went and got our cell phones all set up.  Shout to Steven for being awesome and giving me the droid! (i still have no idea how to use 99% of the stuff on it). 

Wednesday night my roommate, Justine, Rebecca, Lianna, and my self (all in Arcadia programs) went to a pub for dinner and it was fun to just hang out and drink.... legally drink.

Thursday was more orientation.  Thursday was pretty uneventful with just hanging out around the dorm and meeting people.  There is a French student who lives in our building who I talked to for a few hours and she had very good and funny insight into the London scene.

Friday was course registration for our Arcadia taught courses.  I am taking two courses taught by study abroad program: Sex, Gender and the City in Contemporary Literature & Intro to British Art (taught mostly at museums).  I am also taking three London College of Fashion courses; however, those do not begin until next week and registration is this Friday.  BUT friday night is when the fun began.... me and 5 other girls (Ashley, Emily, Libby, Megan, and Becky) from program decided to skip the club and go on a pub crawl around our area.  SO FUN!  We finally found places where people our age hang out and it was awesome. 

Saturday me and my friend Emily went on a shopping expedition.  We started off at H&M and then we went to Camden market, where we saw a very interesting collection of people.  We decided to walk from the market to Regents Park.  We walk through the park which is absolutely beautiful and was filled with cute puppies.  We then decided to walk home, guided by GPS on my phone.... turns out we walked over five miles.  We grabbed lunch from a small restaurant on our way and ate when we got back.  We then had to shower and get ready to go to a club, Amika.  Amika is a small club, which is known for hosting celebrities, and one of the boys in the Arcadia program has a cousin who is a promoter for it so we all got in for free.  The attire was suits for boys and the equivalent for the gals (dress, tights heels).  When we got there is was fun, but the bar was EXPENSIVE.... 11 pounds for a mixed drink.  We eventually got bottle service, but by that time the bar was packed with about 70 Arcadia students and it was just too crowded, so me and two other girls decided to leave while the tube was still open and go hang out at big chill.  When we got back all the Arcadia students who live in my building hung out in the cafe and got to get to know each other better.  It was a fun night :)

Sunday (today), me and the same five girls I pub hopped with decided to go to the British Museum, which is free and unbelievable.  We got there around 1/ 1:30 and spent all day there walking around and seeing the exhibits.  The Partheanon exhibit is amazing, but I would be so annoyed if I was Greece and some random British Duke decided just to take my national monument.  Another great exhibit was the Africa one.  ( I will upload pictures to Facebook, so someone help meema and poppee :) ).  We got lunch near there and then left when the museum closed.  We stopped to grab some school supplies on the way back. I doubt anyone will go out tonight because classes start tomorrow and we are all exhausted.

The past week was awesome and I really cant wait to get started with classes..... I probably left a ton of stuff out, but if you have questions (aunt lenore, aunt toby, etc.....) post them for me and I'll try to answer them  :)

Cheers

Bye Bye C-Bus. Hello blogging

It's that time.... Finals are here and I'm stuck juggling packing up everything I have up at school, studying for finals, and saying goodbye to everyone.
It's a bit overwhelming to think that in a short month I will be living in London and will not be back at The Ohio State University until August. But it's also very exciting.
Today I have a introduction meeting at the osu study abroad office where all the osu students on my trip will also be attending and we will get the last minute information that we need. I'm excited to meet the other students from here going on my trip.

I doubt I will post again before new years so here is the official intro to this blog. My mom and family members have been saying that they want to hear everything that happens pretty much as it happens, so I am going to try to keep up with this blog while I am abroad. But I'm not making any promises (let's be honest I'm going abroad for studying and fun:) )

Megan